The first case of a healthcare worker who died from the novel coronavirus in Los Angeles County was confirmed by health officials on Tuesday, March 31, though no details were provided other than the person was over the age of 60.

Health officials on Tuesday also announced 10 additional deaths and 548 new cases, the largest jump in the county’s ongoing tally of COVID-19 cases and deaths thus far.

The healthcare worker who died was included in Monday’s tally. The number of confirmed cases, now at 3,011, has tripled from a week ago. A total of 54 people have died so far.

“These aren’t just numbers,” said LA County Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “Our sympathies go out to the family and we have gratitude to this person who gave everything for the health of our community.”

Four of those whose deaths were reported Tuesday were under the age of 65 and one person was under 41. Roughly 87% of deaths so far are from people with underlying health conditions.

“While the majority of the people who are passing do have underlying health conditions, not all do, which is a reminder of the ferociousness of this virus,” Ferrer said.

The increased numbers are in part a reflection of additional testing, Ferrer said. More than 19,000 people have now been tested for COVID-19 in the county, up from about 6,000 a week ago.

County officials also said they would be opening up two new testing centers on Wednesday in Lancaster and Glendale and soon after in Northridge. Three additional testing sites by the end of the week will be located at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach, the Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale and at the Pomona Fairplex. Officials were also working to establish a testing site at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and scale up testing in Long Beach, according to Dr. Clayton Kazan, medical director for L.A. County Fire Department.

Hospitalizations remained at about 20% of confirmed cases. There have been 549 people who were hospitalized at one time due to the coronavirus, and 267 people were currently in the hospital, Ferrer said.

The department also has 35 investigations under way at institutional settings with at least one confirmed case. Among them, 20 are nursing homes and one is a homeless shelter where an employee tested positive. Two homeless people so far have been confirmed with COVID-19.

More than 11 facilities had at least three confirmed cases by patients or staff, which the department considers an outbreak. The total number of confirmed cases across all the institutional settings the department is monitoring has reached 155 cases.

Ferrer said that while it was a difficult day to report the increased deaths, she expects the number to continue to rise. The actual number of confirmed cases, she has continually said, is much higher.

“We are working closely with our partners at MV Transportation to ensure buses and facilities are sanitized and deep-cleaned,” according to the statement released by the city of Santa Clarita.

During the month of March, the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 1,175 patients with symptoms for COVID-19 including 104 patients on Monday, according to Chief Daryl Osby. A total of 10 firefighters have tested positive, seven of which have recovered and returned to work.

The numbers of confirmed cases in LA County reported Tuesday included 115 cases in Long Beach and 25 in Pasadena. The county tally generally runs behind those cities, because they operate thei rown health departments. Long Beach’s updated total is 123; while Pasadena’s grew to 33 Tuesday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, in his noon time briefing on Tuesday, said that 25,000 healthcare workers responded to a call on Monday to enroll in a statewide database at Healthcorps.ca.gov to join the fight on the front lines of this pandemic.

“It’s a remarkable spirit and a remarkable number of individuals who have stepped up,” Newsom said.

On Monday, roughly 150,000 people in California applied for unemployment, making well over 1.6 million people in the state who have applied so far, Newsom said. The state has distributed 32.4 million N95 masks and have ordered more than 100 million more, Newsom said.

The death toll in California rose to 150 people on Tuesday and a total of 6,932 confirmed cases, which represents a 17% increase from the day before. The number of people hospitalized statewide rose 13% to 1,617, and those in intensive care units rose 10% to 657 people. Over the past five days, hospitalizations in the state have doubled and the number of those in ICU has tripled, Newsom said.

While the percentage increase in hospitalizations was slightly lower than what other hot spots have experienced, Newsom said it was still a grim reminder that the spread of COVID-19 was growing.

“We are by no means out of the woods yet,” Newsom said. “By no stretch of the imagination should people think that California is overconfidence.”

Newsom said the state was preparing to provide 50,000 additional hospital beds, including 30,000 more beds at hospitals, to prepare for an expected peak of the crisis in California around the middle of May. A second phase in a worst case scenario, Newsom said, would include adding more locations as emergency field hospitals such as The Forum in Inglewood. The LA Convention Center was already being outfitted this week as a mammoth field hospital.

In other parts of Southern California, Riverside County reported 371 cases and 13 deaths. Orange County has confirmed 502 cases and seven deaths. San Bernardino County confirmed 125 cases and four deaths.

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David Rosenfeld has been working as a professional journalist for nearly 20 years at newspapers, magazines and websites. He's covered murder trials, interviewed governors and presidential candidates and once did a flip in a biplane for a story assignment. Before joining The Daily Breeze in 2018 to cover El Segundo, Hawthorne and aerospace, he worked at The Beach Reporter in Redondo Beach. In his free time, David loves outdoor sports such as sailing, mountain biking and golfing.

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